


Angel Wings

by angel_wings, frozen_hearted



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-12 01:35:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5648929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_wings/pseuds/angel_wings, https://archiveofourown.org/users/frozen_hearted/pseuds/frozen_hearted
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In 2000, it's all over the news; a young girl has disappeared. Taken by an unknown organization and held captive for six years before finally finding her release, that young girl had changed. Now Margaret Joseph, known now as Annie Stark, daughter of the famous Iron Man, Tony Stark, has become accustomed to her wonderful life in New York City. She lives a life surrounded by friends and family... and secrecy. No body knows what happened to Margaret all those years ago, or how exactly Tony had found her on the side of the road in West Virginia, but as Margaret's past comes back to haunt her, and with the addition of two new faces to the Avengers team, things become a little more complicated. Poor Margaret worries that the secret she held on so tightly to for the past years might just come to light. What would she do then?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, lovelies! Welcome to Angel Wings and thank you so much! This is my first story on AO3 and I hope ya'll enjoy. Just wanted to ask you all to consider leaving comments (constructive criticism greatly appreciated) on how to improve the story, to point out anything you find odd, etc., or just general kindness. Hope you all enjoy! Thanks lots, have a lovely day!

_April 12th, 2000_

    The day started like any other, with the Joseph family rising at the first light of morning, although today wasn’t just any other day. Today was the day that little Margret Joseph turned six. The youngest of four siblings and only daughter to Christina and Donald Joseph. All was going as planned; Margret was getting her birthday breakfast, which consisted of fluffy scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and two slices of buttered toast. In the kitchen stood Christina, watching her daughter with amusement as she devoured the plate of food in front of her. Donald was just coming down the stairs, holding one of the many gifts him and his wife had gotten their daughter in apology. Just as he opened his mouth to catch his youngest child’s attention, the door to the Joseph home burst open. In stormed men dressed in black, carrying guns of varying size. Young Margret screamed, jumping down from her seat and making towards her father. Both parents stood in shock as the men surrounded them. A few moments later in strolled one more man, dressed much nicer than the grunts he’d first sent in. The man was older looking, with hair greying by his ears, and some wrinkles beneath his eyes. His smile was taunting and showed yellowing teeth. An ugly looking scar stretched from his right cheek to his left eyebrow. Just his walk had the little girl cowering in her pajamas.

    Her father moved to stand in front of her, dropping her gift to the floor. “You said we had till tonight,” he spoke, his voice calm and eyes narrowed into slits. The man smiled wider, pointing wordlessly to the girl. One of the men behind Donald reached down and wrapped an arm around the little girl’s waist, hoisting her off the ground. At the sound of her daughter’s shriek, Christina began to fight her way towards her daughter, only to be knocked unconscious by the barrel of a gun hitting her temple. Donald cried out for his wife and took a step forward, only to stumble backwards at the sight of a gun pointed in his face. Margret began to flail in the strange man’s arms, reaching out for her father, whose back was turned to her. Donald did nothing to stop the men retreating out his front door with his daughter, his heart breaking as the black vehicles parked out front sped off and away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya'll are enjoying, sorry about the last one being short, most chapters will be longer (I plan on making them that way) but some will, ya know, not be. I do apologize for the varying chapter sizes but I hope you all like it just the same! Have a wonderful day, lovelies!

_May 11th, 2005_

    She awoke to the sound of footsteps coming down the hall and scrambled into the darkness of the corner of her cell, hiding her face in her knees. It had been over five years since Margret had been taken. She went by a new name now, Angel. Each morning they’d come for her, she didn’t know who they were or where she was but she’d memorized every face and hallway in the godforsaken building where she was being held. Across the hall from her, through the bars of another cell, she saw the boy, Miles, doing the same as she was. She wasn’t the only person here, but she had been the first. The experiments had started the first day she arrived, with electroshock therapy to measure how much pain the child could take. They only progressed from there, starting with surgery and then turning to things with DNA and such. She couldn’t even remember anymore what part of her was still human.

    As Margret had feared the heavy footsteps stopped in front of her cell and she risked a glance at the person who stood in front of her, only to realize he wasn’t looking at her, but at Miles. He opened his cell door and Miles made a run, but despite his enhanced speed the officer grabbed the boy. A new set of footsteps approached and Margret watched as this person appeared and opened her cell door, moving to grab her and haul her to her feet. She only just had a chance to slip out of the persons grip when a syringe was plunged into her neck. Before she had taken two steps did she collapse to the floor, unconscious.

***

    When she woke once more a blinding light was shining in her face and a cold surrounded her. She pushed herself to her feet, wobbling as she examined the room around her. The room was painted a chipping grey color and empty of all things, save for a large mirror on one of the walls. She’s been in the room more than once to know that it just wasn’t a mirror. There were people outside watching, people she could just barely see with her enhanced sight. Her hearing perked up at the sound of a soft groan and she turned her head to the dark side of the room where she could make out the shadow of a person. A pang of fear hit her just as she realized what they wanted. “No,” she muttered to herself, shaking her head as the person rose to their feet. “No,” she repeated as they emerged from the darkness, eyes wide and red. “No!” She screamed to the mirror, banging her fists against the glass. Before she could strike hard enough to break the glass she was tackled to the ground, being spit at by a once docile Miles. He was faster than her, that was for sure. He was strong as well, she noticed as he pinned her arms to the ground with a growl. She was stronger, however.

    Despite the vile growing in her stomach at fighting the weaker boy she managed to break herself free, flinging Miles like a ragdoll across the room. A sickening crack sounded as the boy collided with the wall, but Miles looked fine. Then he started shaking and the cracking sound happened once more and then again and again. It continued until the boy was howling in pain and had fallen to his knees. His bones popped and broke as they shifted into his new form. No longer was he the small, scared boy she’d seen – a sweet boy with brown hair and blue eyes, who relied on his glasses to see even a foot in front of him – but a monster with long distorted looking limbs and a long snout that snarled and snapped its jaw at her. “Please,” she pleaded as the boy charged her. Easily she dodged the messy attack, flipping over the back of the boy. She repeated her plea as she felt the familiar pain of pushing at her shoulder blades. Her teeth began to ache, as did her fingers and toes, as the pain grew. The monster she once referred to as Miles paused, cocking its wolf-like head to the side as he watched her writhe in pain on the ground.

    The sound of ripping skin and clothing sounded through the room, and the once Miles creature whimpered in sympathy, followed closely by a shriek of pain as Margret doubled over, falling to her knees as two bloody wings sprouted from the fresh wounds in her back. The pain in her mouth became almost unbearable as the fangs pushed their way forward, her teeth falling out of her head, landing in a bloody pile in front of her. Her fingers and toes began to burn as her nails elongated into sharp points. She tried to fight the feeling that came with her transformation, the feeling of bloodlust, but seeing the creature in front of her once again begin to snarl something in her snapped and she lunged for the boy. He didn’t stand a chance against her, not when she was like this. Her teeth gnawed at his face and neck, her nails slashing his arms down to the muscle. Her toes gripped him hard, the nails digging into the flesh of his thighs where she had perched herself for attack. The wings against her back fluttered as she tore at the skin of his neck, knocking away the blows he attempted to land to push her away from him.

    It didn’t take more than a minute until she was gnawing at nothing but skin and bone, the soul having left the poor boys mutilated body. Only when a strange man entered the room did she stop. The horrific reality of what she had just done hit her as she fell to her knees, wailing at both the pain as she once again reverted back to her normal, human self and at the thought that she just murdered an innocent boy. He was weaker than me, she managed to think as the fangs dropped out of her mouth one by one, leaving the taste of copper in their wake. He didn’t even know what he was doing, she mentally cried, her nails breaking off and falling to the floor with a ping sound, new ones quickly growing in their place. I killed him, came her last thought as her wings retracted painfully into her back, the skin burning despite the relief of the cool blood flowing from the injuries as said injuries healed shut.

    Before she could move another syringe was being thrust into her neck, the liquid had a flash of painful heat running through her before she fell unconscious once more.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part of the story, the ones preceding and the few to follow are simply parts of the prologue that I have split into segments. The real "Chapter 1" will be noted when you arrive at it soundly, anyway, keep commenting and have fun reading!

_July 16th, 2006_

    The physical trials had ended last April, marking the sixth year that Margret had been held in captivity. The day after her twelfth birthday the mental experiments began. They tested her on different subjects, such as Algebra, English, History and Biology, scoring her out of a hundred only to find she was better than they expected despite her lack of schooling. Natural intelligence, they decided. For a month they didn’t touch her, leaving her alone in her dark cell to stare out at the world through bars. For a year she stared at the empty cage across from her, missing how the shy boy that used to be there never ceased to make her laugh. That empty cage was filled mid-June with another young boy, he was about her age with sandy blonde hair and wide brown eyes. His accent when he spoke was thick and not understandable. He sounded European, although she couldn’t tell where from. His name was Dmitri, so she assumed he was from Russia.

    A month after the mental experiments had started Margret began to notice that she could do things that she couldn’t before. She could turn lights on and off at the flick of her wrist, at a simple thought she could throw someone across the room, which had come in handy when the science officers came at her in a threatening manner. More than once had she broken out of her cage using only her mind – she’d crushed the bars to smithereens or somehow managed to bend them into a hole big enough for her to squeeze through. It didn’t matter though, how much she got out, because they were always there with a tranquilizer dart and some sort of punishment that had her screaming and writhing until she’d black out.

    Today was no different than the others, or so she had thought. Men came and grabbed her, bringing her to a room that had only a desk and bookshelf in it. It was her ‘classroom’. When they left she sighed and sat herself down in the chair in front of the desk to see what subject she was supposed to be studying today. Instead of there being a textbook and sheet filled with questions, she found a plain piece of paper beside a sticky note with the words ‘Listen and Write’ written on it in unrecognizable handwriting. Beside the paper lay a sharpened pencil which she picked up and began to tap against the desk as she sat in silence. A small voice nagged at the back of her mind but she brushed it aside, it had always been there, ever since the mental experiments had begun. She remembered back to that first day, before the tests, when they had dragged her from her cell and laid her on a cold table. She shivered at the memory, remembering the sting in her neck as the needle from the syringe filled with strange blue liquid pierced her neck.

    The voice soon came back to the forefront of her mind and she sighed as she listened to what it was saying. ‘ _Taco's tonight? Or pizza?_ ’. She rolled her eyes, asking herself why on earth she would be thinking that. Then another sentence reached her head, ‘ _forgive me, Lord, for I have_ _sinned_ ’. And soon another and another, each thought growing louder than the last, until her head was splitting open at the noise. She clutched her head, groaning as she slipped out of her seat. Her head throbbed at the thoughts racing through her mind, thoughts she quickly realized weren’t hers. Slowly a panic began to rise in her. She could read other people’s minds, she realized in fear. Out of all the things they did to her this was the worst. The only place she had left that was sacred was her mind and now even there, there was no sanctuary. She screamed as she willed the voices away, yet they wouldn’t leave her, growing louder against her will. The door creaked open and she turned her head, seeing two men approach her. She spread her palm out towards the men, sending them flying back out into the hallway. Ignoring the screaming voices in her head she ran, feeling the familiar pain of her wings threatening to break through the skin of her back. She pushed back the fear and attempted to calm her breathing as she ran, flinging anyone and anything out of her way.

    She’d made it to the front of the facility when she’d remembered Dmitri and Sally, another girl the scientist had taken for experiments, as well as Jonas and Lady. A bullet whipped passed her shoulder, which had her turning and barring her teeth with a hiss as she sent five men holding assault rifles back into the wall. She held them there for five seconds as she rid them of their guns before letting them drop and taking off out the unlocked doors. Only when she was far enough away for them to not hear her scream did she let go her control of her wings, allowing them to push their way out into the world, cringing at the sound of her skin and her shirt ripping. Blood splattered to the ground as her wings fluttered, dripping from the gashes in her back, running down her body. She wasted no more time standing around, after the pain had dulled to being bearable she began running once more, her wings flapping hard behind her. She had never tried flying before, but what where wings for? It didn’t take long until she was lifted off the ground and into the air, but she didn’t stay there long. Her wings burned, pulling at the skin of her back, threatening to rip away from her body.

    When she landed she was in a wooded area with nothing but darkness surrounding her. She followed the sound of a river she picked up about fifteen yards or so away and tucked her wings in behind her, noticing that the voices which had driven her away had finally left her. She sighed, finding happiness in the fact that she had her mind back, for now, at least. For a little while longer she walked beside the river, until finding that at the end of the river there was a road. Wincing in pain she retracted her wings, washing herself off in the cool of the river as she waited for someone to find her. Down the road drove a vehicle that she’d never seen before. It sat on four wheels and was sleek and colored silver. She waved at the passing vehicle which sped past much to her displeasure. With a glare she stopped the tires and it skid to a halt. From inside the car she heard a man curse, his thoughts filling her head.

    ‘ _Goddamn car,_ ’ he thought, turning the vehicle off, ‘ _what the hell is wrong with you?_ ’

    Margret listened closely to the sound of the car door opening and closing before making her way out of the darkness. The man didn’t notice her, but she could clearly see him. Not so tall, black hair, underneath his glasses he had deep brown eyes and he was a smartass, or so she assumed. She’d run into many of his type at the facility, in fact, she believed that was all they hired. She made a noise that drew the man’s attention before feigning dizziness and collapsing. ‘Oh, shit!’ Came his thought. He rushed to Margret, scooping her up in his arms and rushing her towards the hospital.

    In the backseat of the man’s luxurious car, she smiled to herself. Finally, she was free.


	4. Chapter 4

_July 20th, 2006_

    Four days after being brought in, she pretended to wake. She made a big deal of groaning and sitting up, wincing as she feigned pain for the sake of those around her. In reality, she been awake all along. Since the moment the mysterious man with the fancy car had brought her here, to every checkup that a nurse preformed on her supposedly unconscious body, to five minutes ago when a doctor came in a sighed, thinking about how she would never make it. With the time she spent pretending to sleep she began to work on controlling her thoughts, or rather, other people’s thoughts. She spent hours at a time trying to block out the many thoughts rushing about her head and, on the third day, she succeeded. She spent a day in silence with only mild discomfort from when the block she’d managed to put up would slip from time to time.

    The first thing she noticed when she opened her eyes was the brightness and cleanliness of the room she was in. No dirt caked on to the floor, no dust particles flying around in the air, no scuttling rats or mice. A smile graced her lips as she looked around and saw no one there. No science officers, she thought with a smile. She looked down at herself, finding she was dressed in only a paper gown and her underwear, covered by a warm and colorful blanket. Slowly she sat herself up, finding it strange when she had difficulty doing so. Closely she listened to the workings of the place around her, hearing footsteps that belonged to her nurse coming just down the hall. For a moment she thought about running off, she was fast enough to escape if she wanted, but something had her staying. A sudden burst of pain hit her head as the shield she built in her mind fell and the thoughts of her fellow patients flowed into her mind. She fell back against the pillows as the door swung open, the nurse dropping her clipboard to the floor, the sound hurting Margret’s hypersensitive ears.

    “You’re awake!” Said the woman, a pleasant surprise in her voice. Her thoughts said something else, however. ‘ _Shit, I guess I owe Donna twenty bucks. Poor thing is up already._ ’ To the woman, Margret was nothing more than a way to make money. The girl forced a smile and nodded, blocking the others thoughts as she ran from the room, yelling for a doctor. Moments later in stormed a man in a lab coat with a stethoscope hanging around his neck, the nurse from before and the mysterious man who had dropped off young Margret. All were wide eyed at the condition of the girl in front of them. She looked perfectly fine, as if the injuries they found on her didn’t bother her at all. /When she was first brought in, the doctors were horrified at the many scars she had marking her. The biggest two concerns where the two jagged marks running the length of her shoulder blades. But besides that, her body was littered with quickly healed gashes and cuts from the days when she would fight her fellow lab experiments. The doctor marveled at the healthy glow this girl emitted as she stared at them all, eyes dull and tired looking. The mysterious man slowly made his way into the room, taking a seat in the plastic chair beside Margret’s bed. For a second she wondered why she was there and she dropped her shield to read into his mind. All the other thoughts hit her at once and she winced, putting up the block once more.

    The doctor cleared his throat and was the first one to speak, “how are you feeling?”

    “Fine,” Margret replied with a shrug, ignoring the dull thumping at the back of her mind where other’s thoughts were trying to make themselves known.

    “Can you tell us your name?”

    Margret thought for a moment, wondering on whether or not she should tell the truth. “I-I-I-” She stuttered, stalling long enough to make a decision.

    “Annie Stark,” said the man beside her, reaching up to grasp her hand.

    For a moment Margret stared at the man in confusion, but the look in his eyes told her to go along with what he was saying. She nodded, turning to look at the doctor. He didn’t look convinced, sending the nurse to go and check to see if there was a birth record to prove it. With a grin the doctor excused himself and left the room after the nurse.

    “He’s going to look for a birth certificate,” said Margret to the man, pulling her hand from his.

    “I know,” said the man with a nod, pulling out his phone and pressing a button. “Jarvis.” A voice she didn’t recognize entered the air. The voice spoke with a British accent as he addressed the man.

    “Yes, sir?”

    “I need you to write up a birth certificate.”

    “What for, sir?”

    “Jarvis,” the man said, his tone warning the person on the other end not to press. “Just do it.”

    “And what is the name of the child?”

    “Annie Samantha Stark.” Margret raised an eyebrow as she realized the initials would spell out the word ass. He has a sense of humor, she thought, suppressing a giggle.

    “Birthday?”

    The man turned his attention to Margret. “When were you born?”

    “April 12th, 1994,” she replied stiffly, dropping all form of amusement, her eyes glaring at the man in distrust.

    “You get that?” He asked the voice, to which he got an affirmative hum.

    “Parents?” The voice asked.

    “Me and,” the man paused thinking over the question before finishing his answer. “Why the hell not,” he muttered to himself. “Pepper.”

    The voice continued on asking questions to fill out the false birth certificate, the man answering most of them until he needed Margret’s help. When the questions had been finished the room fell silent. Only a second later did the voice reply he’d finished the job. The man smiled and said a thank you to the voice before hanging up. Margret eyed him curiously as he sat back in his chair.

    “Who are you?” Margret suddenly asked. “And why are you helping me?”

    “The name’s Tony Stark,” replied the man, shaking the girl’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Margret.”

    A flash of fear ran through her. This man knew who she was. He saw the fear in her eyes and raised his hands up in surrender as the chair he was sat in bean to scrape against the floor as she pushed him backwards with her mind. He knew there was something off about her, showing up in the middle of nowhere with bloodied and ripped clothes but having no sign of injury. He assured her he wasn’t there to hurt her, but she didn’t believe him. The chair was nearly by the window when she heard footsteps approaching and suddenly she jerked Tony back to her bedside, feigning a happy smile as the doctor came back into the room.

    “Alright,” he sighed, looking down to the notepad in his arms. “Ms. Stark, you said you’re okay?”

    “Yes,” Margret replied quietly.

    The nurse entered just behind the doctor not even a second later, carrying a tray filled with vials and needles. The sight of the nurse flicking the needle of the syringe she was now holding had Margret nearly flying from her bed and running off. She suppressed the need to fling the woman across the room and destroy what the tray held. The pain of her wings threatening to break free had her attempting to calm her racing heart as the nurse approached. Her gums began to tingle in pain as the nurse grew ever closer. The tips of her nails slowly began to turn bloody as the needle came closer and closer to her. She fought off the change as hard as she could but she realized that unless the woman stopped her approach it would be inevitable. Tony saw the fear in Margret’s eyes and waved off the nurse, wrapping the small girl in his arms.

    “You okay, honey?” He asked, feigning the position of concerned father.

    Margret buried her head in Tony’s shoulder as the doctor scribbled down something on his notepad, turning his attention to Tony. “What is your relation to Ms. Stark?” He asked, cocking an eyebrow.

    “I’m her father,” he deadpanned, stroking Margret’s hair soothingly.

    The doctor nodded and wrote something down, looking to the nurse who stood a few feet away from Tony and the girl, the expression on her face one of annoyance. “Mr. Stark,” sighed the doctor, “please let Nurse Straus administer the painkiller.”

    “I’m not in pain!” Margret insisted, looking to glare at the nurse with blurry eyes.

    The vial shook in the nurse’s hand as Margret fought the desire to just destroy it while she could before she decided on simply prying it from the woman’s hand. The nurse gave a gasp as her hands, of their own violation, let go of the medicine filled syringe and it dropped, shattering against the floor. Margret fought a smug smile at the look of both the nurse and the doctor and once again buried her head in Tony’s neck. He rubbed her back lovingly, watching as the doctor wrote another thing down on his notepad while the nurse bent to clean up the mess she’d made.

    “Well,” the doctor spoke. “Let’s just make sure you’re okay and then, if nothing’s wrong, you’re free to go.”

    “Alright,” said Tony. “But I’m not leaving her.”

    The look he gave the doctor said he was serious. With a nod the doctor left, leaving the two with the bumbling nurse, who soon apologized for her clumsiness and left with her tray of needles and vials. When they’d both gone, Margret pulled away and wiped away the few tears she allowed to escape her eyes. It has been so long since she last cried, not since the third month at the facility had she ever allowed herself the luxury. “You okay?” He asked to her, pushing a strand of dark hair from her eyes. She shook her head and choked out a no, the memory of all those needles filled with the liquids that caused her only pain came back to the forefront of her mind and, for the first time in years, she actually felt okay to cry. “What happened to you?” He wondered aloud, holding her as she collapsed into his arms again, her eyes spilling tears onto his new suit.

    When the doctor came back a half hour later he brought with him a pair of grey sweatpants and a shirt with the hospitals logo on it. Both men left the room as Margret changed out of the flimsy paper dress and into warm clothing given to her. For a moment she pondered the question whether or not she leave, she had the perfect opportunity. Nobody was in the room, she was on the first floor and there was a window to her left. But something stopped her as she made her way to the window. Tony was still standing outside the door, waiting for her. He’d made a man create a fake birth certificate to prove she was who he said. He held her when she was shaking and scared. This man didn’t even know her and yet he was helping her. She slowly approached the door and turned the handle, face turning red as both Tony and the doctor turned their heads to see her standing in the doorway. Tony, surprising himself and the girl, smiled proudly at the fact that she was standing on her own. She looked strong, he noticed. The doctor led both Tony and the girl down a long hall and into a dark room where they started the testing to clear Margret for release.

    When her x-rays had finished the doctor did a simple checkup of reflexes and what not and deemed her well enough to leave. The three quickly made a stop at the room in which Margret had been held, Tony grabbing the colorful blanket from the bed and Margret slipping on the ratty sneakers that the doctor had given her when he’d been told she had no shoes. She beamed at Tony as he signed her out, taking her hand and leading her into the parking lot where his fancy car was waiting for the two of them. Eagerly she slipped into the passenger’s seat, happy to be out of the place that reminded her too much of the place she’d been living for the past six years. “Buckle,” Tony told her, reaching across her to grab a grey strap with a metal piece on its end. The metal piece clicked as Tony inserted it into a little slot on a plastic thing at Margret’s hip. She let out an excited giggle as the car started and Tony pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

    From the corner of his eye Tony watched the suddenly happy looking girl. He wondered what drew him to her. For the past four days he found himself being pulled back to the hospital when he knew he should just have stayed away. Something about this girl had him intrigued and, if he was admitting it to himself, he liked the sound of having a daughter like her. Nearly halfway down the road to his hotel, Tony turned off the radio that had been blasting for the last six or seven miles. Margret frowned when the music turned off, pouting and glaring in Tony’s direction.

    “So, Margret,” he began, taking notice of the flinch at the mention of her real name. “Tell me about yourself.”

    Margret shuffled awkwardly in her seat. “There’s nothing to tell,” she quietly muttered.

    Tony raised an eyebrow but didn’t press, trying a new tactic by starting out small. “Okay,” he sighed. “How old are you then?”

    “Twelve,” she replied.

    “Really? Would’ve thought you were older,” he laughed.

    She let her shield drop for a moment and laughed at his thoughts. “No you didn’t,” she said, “you thought I was ten.” His eyes widened at her statement. Had she read his mind, he wondered. “Yeah, I did,” she admitted sheepishly. _No way!_ He thought in disbelief. “Yes way,” she laughed, her eyes lighting up for the first time since Tony had met the girl. It brought a smile to his face at the sight of the little girl next to him, smiling like she was supposed to be.

    So, twelve? Okay, tell me…” He trailed off for a moment, thinking of something to ask. Favorite color or favorite animal? He thought to himself.

    “My favorite color,” she answered, “is blue. My favorite animal is a dolphin.”

    “Why?”

    “I don’t know…” She sighed, “blue just, it comes in so many different shades. It can be happy or sad, bright or dull. And a dolphin is a free spirit, it can swim away from its problems with grace and majesty.” She stared out the window for a moment and flinched at a particularly disturbing memory. “I wish I were a dolphin…”

    _What happened to you?_ He silently wondered once more, which Margret didn’t miss.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 1 is drawing near my lovely readers, then our story /really/ begins. :)

_July 20th, 2006_

    The questioning continued until they arrived at Tony’s hotel. The building stretched eighteen stories high and was made most entirely of glass. Margret marveled at such beauty in such a cold thing as a building. Tony grabbed Margret’s hand and tugged her inside and through the well decorated lobby to an elevator where he proceeded to press the button numbered 17. The elevator ride was short and sweet with Margret humming along to the sappy elevator music and Tony smiling down at the little girl. When the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, Tony grabbed the girl’s hand once more, pulling her down a long hall towards the end room where a woman was sat waiting.

    At the sight of Tony she stood, her face angry, her thoughts racing. She began to yell before he’d even gotten the door closed, oblivious to the girl hiding now behind Tony’s legs. “Tony!” She shouted, “what the hell did you do?! I get the call from some hospital saying that my daughter, Annie, is in the hospital! What daughter? What did you do?!” Tony cleared his throat and stepped to the side, eyes falling on the little girl beside the arrogant bastard she called a boss. Pepper gasped, hands flying to cover her mouth as Margret waved shyly. “Oh my god,” she muttered. “Tony! Why didn’t you tell me you were bringing her here?!”

    “I wanted it to be a surprise,” he said with a smirk, bringing a laugh from Margret’s throat as she heard Tony’s smug thoughts.

    “Sorry,” she apologized at Pepper’s obvious distress. “I didn’t mean to be a disturbance.”

    “You’re not!” Insisted Tony, squeezing her into his side. “Pepper here was just surprised, is all. Right?” He quirked an eyebrow at Pepper, who sighed and smiled at Margret, her thoughts doing the speaking for her. She wasn’t upset about her arrival, in fact, she thought it would be wonderful to go shopping with her. “Pepper, Margret,” he introduced with a wave of his hands and Pepper waved sweetly. “Margret, Pepper.” Margret waved shyly, finding the courage to speak up once more.

    “Can Pepper and I go shopping for new clothes?” Margret asked quietly, kicking at the carpeted floor.

    Pepper’s eyes widened as the girl questioned just what she was thinking. It was as she’d read my thoughts, she thought to herself. A knowing glint formed in Tony’s eyes as he watched the expression on Pepper’s face turn from awe to confusion. He’d felt the same way only an hour ago. Tony agreed and sent the two women off with a smile, moving to change from his suit. On the ride to the nearest store, that being the local Walmart and Target, Pepper began asking Margret questions of her own.

    “So, Margret,” Pepper began, “where are you from?”

    Margret’s face drained of all color, memories of birthday parties and happiness coming back to her mind, worrying the woman who drove. “Florida,” the girl answered after moments of silence.

    Pepper smiled warily and asked another question, "do you parents know where you are?"

    "No."

    Both her eyes and her thoughts showed surprise and Margret couldn’t help the smile at this woman’s concern for her. The car ride continued with various small talk, avoiding family relations at all costs. When they reached the parking lot for the conjoined Target and Walmart it was nearly barren, checking the time they both realized why. It was nine thirty in the morning. Pepper laughed as she helped Margret out of the car, grasping her hand tightly as they crossed the road to the store. The girls wandered for a while, looking around at dresses and jeans and frilly t-shirts until Margret saw something that caught her eye. Across the aisle, in the boys section, was a long row of graphic t-shirts with superheroes on them and a line of colorful, plaid flannels. Pepper initially sneered at the thought of a beautiful young girl dressed in boy’s clothes, but the statement Tony had made to her before she left with Margret made her sigh and smile.

    “Make her happy, buy her what she wants and use my card,” that’s what he’d said, so that’s what she’d do. She helped the girl pick out a number of different shirts and flannels of all different colors and when one whole cart was nearly full that’s when the two of them started looking for jeans. The one’s in the girls section, they’d found, were either too tight or too baggy, so they moved back over to the boys. After hours of trying on and taking off and saying yes to this and no to that, the girls had finished their shopping with many shirts, more than five pairs of jeans, a set of four shoes and other items a young girl needs such as underwear and socks. Margret bounced happily beside Pepper at the checkout, ignoring the looks of confusion the workers threw their way. When all was paid for the girls had eight large bags, which some workers kindly carried to their vehicle for them, filled to the brim with new clothing.

    Margret squealed when the two had arrived back at the hotel, excitement at showing Tony her new clothes building. Pepper called over a bellhop whose name card read ‘Lawrence’ and asked him for his assistance. Not being allowed to say no, he accepted the task in helping the two females take their findings for the day to their room, Pepper tipping the young boy generously before knocking on the door. Tony answered in a pair of sweats and a tight t-shirt, smiling at the look of joy on the girls face. He’d grown quite attached, he realized. The sudden thought hit him that he didn’t live here, what was he going to do when they needed to leave? There was no possible way he could leave her. A frown formed on the girls face as Tony’s thoughts entered her mind. They were leaving in five days to go back to New York. Then another thought came, he wasn’t going to leave her. Tony helped the girls drag the bags into their room, Margret rushing with her favorite outfit into the bathroom to change. Both Pepper and Tony laughed, plopping down on one of the beds to wait for her. When she’d finished she burst through the bathroom door, hands proudly on her hip as she showed off her Captain America t-shirt underneath a red and black checkered flannel. The jeans she wore felt incredibly comfortable on her legs and she grinned at the blue high tops on her feet. Tony grinned with an unexplainable pride at the young girl who paraded around in her boyish wear.

    “Awesome,” he spoke. “How about we all go get breakfast?”

    “Cool!” Exclaimed the girl, bouncing on her feet.

    “Let me fix your hair first,” said Pepper, grabbing a hairbrush and sitting a bouncing Margret on the bed. She stroked the brush through the slightly tangled mess until the dark stands were smooth and then she began to braid. When she’d finished she pulled a hair tie from her wrist and tied off the end, smiling at her handy work. Margret was up and headed towards the door the moment she could, grabbing at both adults wrists, surprising them with how strong she was. She tugged them down the hall and too the elevator, rushing the machine as she wanted her breakfast. Tony stared in surprise as the elevator arrived much earlier than he expected, looking down at the girl curiously. They also arrived at the lobby much faster than either anticipated, the little girl once more tugging them quickly towards Tony’s car. He marveled at her speed and strength. He was stronger and faster than he was at that age. Pepper was thinking the same, though she chose to focus on the happy face of the girl rather than her curiosities.

    When Tony the girl into the back seat, buckling her in safely, he couldn’t help but leave a small, loving kiss on her forehead before he shut the door and moved to the driver’s seat. “How does IHop sound?” he questioned. Getting approving hums from both females he started the car and pulled off down the road towards the IHop where he’d been getting his breakfast for the last few days. The parking lot was more deserted than he expected, only a truck and two strangely colored vehicle sat there. The three hopped from Tony’s expensive car, which stood out amongst the bandwagon and old Chevy sat near it, and proceeded towards the building. Margret was stood between the two adults, one hand in each of theirs. She beamed when they entered the near empty restaurant, the smell of delicious food hitting her nostrils.

    “Table for three,” Tony said to the host, who smiled at the non-family and took them to a table in the back. A young woman suddenly approached the table and Margret’s joy diminished greatly. She looked hauntingly familiar. The woman grinned and introduced herself as Laura. She took the threes drink orders and left with a smile. Margret listened intently to the girl as she traveled to the kitchen to grab three glasses, listening for any sign that she was talking to another about her. When she had returned with their drinks, her name unmentioned, Margret slowly relaxed. The rest of breakfast passed by quickly with a lot of laughs and friendly conversation of the two adults getting to know more about their little friend. When their food had arrived, Margret’s eyes widened like a woman starved and she dug in as quickly as she could. The two with her laughed, Tony telling her to slow down or she’d get a stomachache.

    “You act as if you’ve never had pancakes before,” he said with a laugh.

    Margret suddenly stopped and looked at him and, in all seriousness, said, “I haven’t.”

    “Eggs?” He tried, to which Margret responded with a shake of her head. “Bacon?”

    “Nope.”

    “Do your parents feed you?” Pepper suddenly questioned.

    Margret flinched and put down her fork, shaking her head as she said, “not my parents.”

    “Who have you been living with then?” It was Tony who asked this time.

    She responded honestly, with the answer of, “I don’t know.”

    He’d read as much in her file. The moment he’d gotten back to his hotel room after dropping her off at the hospital he’d questioned JARVIS about the girl after sneaking a photo and showing it to his creation. From the picture he discovered her name, Margret Elizabeth Joseph, her birthdate, born April 12th, 1994, and her parents’ names, Christina and Donald. He wondered what parents would let their kid loose like they had until he read further into her file. Christina and Donald were killed on January 14th of 1999 by some organization that the government assumed did inhumane research projects on unwilling subjects. Of course nothing could be proven as they could never find the group, but Stark had wondered if that’s what had happened to the girl. It was rumored they’d sold their daughter to the organization for experiments, as in the next few weeks after their daughter’s disappearance a check made out to the family for over half a million was placed in their bank account. Margret pretended not to hear Tony’s thoughts of her past and went back to eating her food in silence.

    When all was done and the check had been paid, they lingered a little longer at the table. Tony sighed and looked at the two girls who were waiting for him to stand. “Margret,” he spoke suddenly. “Would it be alright if I called you Annie?” She threw him a look asking him why. “Well, if we’re going to be a family, I don’t know, I’d like you to have a name I picked out.”

    “Family?” She questioned.

    “Yeah,” he answered. “I mean, we already have the birth certificate.”

    Margret looked to Pepper, whose jaw was hanging open and asked if it was alright with her. When Pepper nodded, her jaw snapping shut, Margret beamed. “Yeah, I like Annie.” The girl answered. “Annie Samantha Stark, I could get used to the sound of that.”


End file.
